Activities of Georgi PIRINSKI related to 2015/2154(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014, Section III – Commission and executive agencies PDF (1 MB) DOC (647 KB)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014, Section III – Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (61)
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regrets that forTakes note of the new structure of the European Court of Auditors’ 2014 Annual Report which follows the headings of the 2014-202 MFF and that the audited spending in the transport sector is the smallest amount (0,8 billion euro) of the total audited population (13 billion euro) in the area of "Competitiveness for growth and employment", to which transport belongs,regrets that the estimated level of error was 5,6% in 2014, 70% of which is coming from research projects and caused to a large extent by reimbursement of ineligible costs; regrets as well that the residual error rate remained above 2% in 2014 which has caused that the Director General of DG MOVE to maintain the reservation for FP7 for research in the transport sector; calls on Commission to carry out carefully ex ante checks in order to detect and correct errors before reimbursement;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Draws attention that in 2014 no projects were financed under CEF since the first call for project proposals closed in March 2015 and that the CEF Debt instrument to be managed by the EIB was not approved until the end of 2014; notes that in 2014 the European Court of Auditors examined 6 transactions in the transport sector (DG Mobility and Transport) and found that 2 out of them were affected by quantifiable errors; thus, is satisfied because of the decrease in the percentage of affected transactions in 2014 (33%) compared to 2013 (62%) and 2012 (49%); calls on the Commission and other relevant actors to ensure compliance with public procurement rules and costs eligibility of future transport projects;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Is concerned that higher error rates followed by suspensions and interruptions may affect the successful closure of the 2007-2013 programmes;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that the promotion of broader use of simplified cost options (SCOs) can lead to the reduction of the administrative burden on the beneficiari; points out, however, that SCOs should be applied in an environment of legal certainty and trust, accompanied by an assessment of benefits and with the full involvement of stakeholders at all levels; stresses that SCOs should remain an option at the disposal of Member States;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Encourages the Commission to continue supervising closely the implementation of innovative financial instruments for leveraging EU investment and attracting new sources of funding for TEN-T infrastructure projects, such as Marguerite Fund, Loans and Guarantees for debt (LGTT) and Project Bond initiative (PBI), and to ensure that the EU budget contribution to these instruments is managed and used appropriately;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D – point f
Recital D – point f
(f) approach the discharge process from the perspective of the close relationship between the Union budget and the new Union macroeconomic policy paradigm76 keeping in mind the genuine aim of the Union budget to contribute to achievement of Union sectoral policies goals ; __________________ 76 Europe 2020 Strategy; European Semester; Six-Pack, Two-Pack; Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) among others; close compliance with the CSRs as a benchmark for effective EU Budget´s expenditure allocation could be the way.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Insists that the Member States avoid further complications of the rules and requirements related to the implementation of the European Social Fund which impose additional burdens for beneficiaries and increase the risk of errors;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that there is information on transport projects available in various databases, such as Financial Transparency System, INEA database of TEN-T projects and CORDIS for Horizon 2020 projects; calls for smart use of these tools in order to have a better overview, upstream and downstream, of the process of allocating EU funds; reiterates the importance of publishing of easily accessible annual list of transport projects and searchable online database co-financed by the Union;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Regrets that the number of European Social Fund (ESF) programmes with an error rate of over than 5 % has risen from 18,8 % in 2013 to 22,9 % in 2014 and that the volume of payments affected by these rates has increased dramatically from 11,2 % to 25,2 %;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Encourages Member States to use the risk assessment tool Arachne and encourages the Commission to continue providing Member States with relevant guidelines and technical assistance for the correct implementation of the management and control requirements in the 2014-2020 period; Insists that the Commission enhance the exchange of good practices between Member States;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Draws attention to the repeated observation of the Court of Auditors that the percentage of error would be lower if national authorities had made better used of available information before sending payment applications to the Commission; in this regard, insists that Member States and national authorities perform better control and avoid asking for reimbursement of incorrect expenditures;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to follow the Court’'s recommendations in order to ensure that the implementation of the Union budget contributes to the achievement of the employment and social headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy.; in this regard expects that the Commission and Member States make use of better performance indicators and improve reporting of the results achieved in 2014-2020 period;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Shares the Court of Auditors' recommendation asking Member States to ensure prompt reimbursement of beneficiaries in strict compliance with time limits, envisaged in the regulations.
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that in the 2014 budget, as finally adopted and amended during the course of the year, specifically for tourism, a total of EUR 11 226 160 was included in commitment appropriations and EUR 6 827 266 was available in payment appropriations; calls on the Commission to make an impact assessment of financed projects in order to better define future spending priorities; calls on the Commission to include the results of the pilot projects and preparatory actions into the next year budget planning.
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Notes that 2014 was a zero year of absorption for some programmes, funds and instruments of the 2014-2020 MFF due to the late adoption of the relevant regulations and the resulting late approval of secondary legislation and programming documents;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Deplores the fact that high-level Europe 2020 Strategy targets are not systematically translated into operational objectives in partnership agreements and programmes and notes that current legislation does not require the European Agricultural Funds for Regional Development (EAFRD) and European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) to be structured around thematic objectives;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Observes that the Court has focused mainly on analysing consistency of Member States' Partnership Agreements with the Europe 2020 Strategy targets as a prerequisite for better performance; asks the Court to present information in its next annual report about translation of the Europe 2020 Strategy targets into expected achievements under other programmes and funds directly managed by the Commission;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 – point c
Paragraph 18 – point c
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. RegretsTakes note that according to the Court, there are inherent weaknesses in the performance framework of the common provisions regulation on structural fundsESIF79 , as poor results do not lead to the loss of the performance reserve for Member States and as the financial sanctions available to the Commission are limited; however, considers that before asking for sanctions a better system for performance measurement should be in place and potential sanctions should be preceded by a process of assisting Member States to improve performance; __________________ 79 Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and laying down general provisions on the ERDF, ESF, CF, EAFRD and EMFF and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 – table – column 1 – row 2
Paragraph 23 – table – column 1 – row 2
Chapter Competitiveness, Research, Education, Transport, Other Programmes
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Remarks that whenever the Commission has evidence of reduced absorption capacity in Member States, the DGCommission should assess all flexibility provisions of the MFF Regulation instead while undertaking corresponding actions only after proposing measures for overcoming insufficient absorption capacity;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Notes that along with progress in the identification of results, 2014 has brought about a change in methodological approaches, but that a clear and transparent survey of the 2014 Union budget contribution to macroeconomic indicators, compliance with the criteria defined for fiscal discipline and macroeconomic balance are still missing; considers that finding connections with the Europe 2020 Strategy is, however, undoubtedly a step in the right dirin 2014 new emphasis was laid on results oriented budgeting and analysis accompanied with a change in methodological approaches; in this context underlines the need for a clear and transparent survey of the 2014 Union budget contribution to results achieved in connections with the Europe 2020 Strategy and sectorial policy objectionves;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46 – point c
Paragraph 46 – point c
(c) appreciates a strengthened linkage of the Union budget with key Union policy strategies and concepts (as the Europe 2020 Strategy) and their correlation with key sectorial policies;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Underlines that the level of error rate does not mean a case of fraud, inefficiency, or waste, but an estimate of financial flows that should not have been paid out as they were not used in line with rules and regulations; recognizes that the error rate is not well understood by European citizens and asks the Court in this context to launch a debate with the Commission with a view to identifying potential methodological shortcomings and agreeing on common standards in reporting the error rate;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49a. Draws attention in this regard that implementation of the 2014 Union budget was exercised under differing regulatory framework due to the fact that in that year there were two frameworks in force respectively for 2007-2013 and 2014- 2020;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Points out therefore that it is correct and substantial to distinguish between different types of error rate related to the different types of Union budgetary expenditure as those are allocated under different criteria and therefore it is very difficult to compare them;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Notes that in its effort to support a reinforced performance culture, the Court's 2014 annual report pays strong attention to Union budget performance issues as it tested as a pilot the real complementarity between Union funding and the Europe 2020 Strategy; notes that the Court underlined and identified a low and weak interconnection between partnership agreements/operational programmes and the Europe 2020 Strategy; however, draws attention that such complementarity should be considered within the overall context of the fund-specific missions pursuant to their Treaty-based objectives, including economic, social and territorial cohesion;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. Appreciates the innovative nature of the Court's 2014 annual report which included a results- and performance- based approach, assessing the application and orientation of Union budget interventions against the Europe 2020 Strategy priorities; considers that thise concept of results- and performance- based approach should be applied in the coming years, when drafting cCountry-sSpecific rRecommendations (CSRs) in the context of the European Semester;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Recommends a continuation of the process of simplification of both procedures and budgetary content leading to a reduction of excessive administrative burdens and to limitations on gold-plating in particular Member States; stresses that the process of simplification should not lead to deregulation; underlines that simplification should not cause overly frequent changes in the regulatory framework, leading to additional burdens for administration and beneficiaries, thus undermining intended positive developments of simplification; welcomes the existence of the high-level group created by Commission and is expecting results;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 a (new)
Paragraph 65 a (new)
65a. Calls on the Court to develop a system, together with national audit authorities, which will allow the Court to evaluate the follow-up Member States have given to its recommendations;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 80
Paragraph 80
80. Notes the Court's recommendation to the Commission to submit a legislative proposal to amend the applicable regulation concerning the extension of the eligibility period for FEI under shared managementRegulation (EC) 1083/2006 and of the Commission's reply thereto;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 81
Paragraph 81
81. Requests that the CommissionCalls upon the Commission that following the Court's recommendation, to considers in its budgetary and financial management the capacity constraints in certainsome Member States, in order to avoid the under-utilisation of funds and to increase the absorption rates, especially in the area of the ESIFs; while acknowledging the actions taken so far, such as the setup of the Task Force for Better Implementation, which has already generated improvements;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 87
Paragraph 87
87. Points out in particular that by the end of 2014, payments to Member States for the multiannual ESIFs for 2007-201384a had reached EUR 309,5 billion; i.e. 77% of the EUR 403 billion for all the operational programmes, where five Member States account for more than the half of the unused commitments of multiannual ESIFs; __________________ 84athe European Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), source ECA AR 2014;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 124 a (new)
Paragraph 124 a (new)
124a. Welcomes the positive outcomes estimated by the High-level Expert Group carrying out the ex-post evaluation of FP7, namely: that the programme created directly over 1,3 million job years (through projects funded over a period of 10 years) and indirectly 4 million job years over a period of 25 years; that each euro spent by FP7 generated approximately 11 euros of direct and indirect economic effects through innovations, new technologies and products and that its financial contribution to SMEs exceeded the target of 15% and reached 17% (5 billion euro);
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 125
Subheading after paragraph 125
Financial engineering instruments
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 126
Paragraph 126
126. Notes that especially for Horizon 2020, very advanced innovative FEI represent one of the key areas for practical implementation; welcomes in this regard the launch in 2014 of a new range of products under "InnovFin - EU finance for Innovators" as a joint initiative launched by the European Investment Bank Group (EIB and EIF) in cooperation with the Commission;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 126 a (new)
Paragraph 126 a (new)
126a. Asks the Commission to present information in future discharge procedures about the implementation of the InnovFin which covers the Union budget share taking part in this FI;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 140
Paragraph 140
140. Notes that by the end of 2015, on average 89% of funds for 2007-2013 programming period were used with some Member States trailing behind;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 144 a (new)
Paragraph 144 a (new)
144a. Welcomes the achievements from the implementation of 2007-2013 ERDF/CF programmes, illustrated by some core indicators annually reported by the Member States and results from preliminary assessment of latest available data showing that approximately 950 000 jobs were created, 36 000 enterprises cooperated with research institutions, more than 270 000 enterprises received support and the additional capacity of renewable energy production was more than 4 000 megawatt;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 149
Paragraph 149
149. Calls on the Commission to provide the Member States with a stronger incentives to boost the use of innovative financial instruments in their regional policy to a greater extent but taking into consideration lessons learnt from the period 2007-2013 in order to avoid blocking funds in financial instruments;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 155 a (new)
Paragraph 155 a (new)
155a. Takes note that in 2014 as a result of the strict supervision and interruption policy of DG REGIO and DG EMPL and growing number of action plans EUR 840 million of financial corrections were confirmed and EUR 854 million were implemented for ERDF/CF for all programming periods (decided in 2014 and in previous years), as well as that for ESF 2007-2013 period EUR 209 million of financial corrections were accepted/decided and EUR 155,9 million were implemented (decided in 2014 and in previous years);
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 155 b (new)
Paragraph 155 b (new)
155b. Observes with satisfaction that in 2014 due to the Commission supervisory role certifying authorities applied financial correction for EUR 782 million before declaring expenditures to the Commission concerning ERDF/CF which has preserved the EU budget from payments of incorrect expenditures;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 161
Paragraph 161
161. Regrets that Member States have not yet fully embraced the simplified cost options (SCO) under the ESF; whereas the Commissionelcomes the report "Simplified Cost Options in the European Social Fund" where DG EMPL expects the that under the programming period 2014-2020 on average 35% of costexpenditure will be claimed under the SCO; supports DG EMPL's efforts to promote the use of SCO by Member States and urges the Member States to fully embrace the potential of SCO;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 168 a (new)
Paragraph 168 a (new)
168a. Points out that according to the figures provided in the 2014 annual activity report of DG Regional and Urban policy the risk of error as a weighted average of the estimation for each operational programme supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund is below 1% in 9 Member States (in 2013 - in 6 Member States) and that only in 2 Member State this percentage is 4% or more (in 2013 - in 5 Member States);
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 168 b (new)
Paragraph 168 b (new)
168b. Points out that according to the figures provided in the 2014 annual activity report of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion the risk of error as a weighted average of the estimation for each operational programme supported by the European Social Fund is below 1% in 9 Member States as it was in 2013 and that this percentage is 4% or more in 6 Member States (7,9% highest) while in 2013 this percentage was above 4% in 5 Member States ((8,8% and 9,3% highest);
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 170
Paragraph 170
170. Is of the opinion it would be helpful tohat the Commission provides a focused analysis of the national eligibility rules (for both the 2007 – 2013 and 2014 – 2020 periods) and on this basis to prepare guidance for Member States on the simplification and elimination of unnecessarily complex and complicated rules (gold-plating);
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 174
Paragraph 174
174. Welcomes the fact that with respect to evidence of real policy results and achieved performance, the Court for the first time used a performance-based approach towards the complementarity of the Union budget with the Europe 2020 Strategy; considers this strategy to beat the results achieved by implementation of this strategy by structural funds is very important for the Union wide headline economic indicator "GDP per cap", but also for otheas well as for other indicators;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 178
Paragraph 178
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 179
Paragraph 179
179. Notes that according to the recent and very comprehensive reportstudy that correctly evaluates the practice of FEI in cohesion policy in the 2007 – 2013 period, the advantages outweigh possible weaknessesFEI have many advantages, but still some weaknesses which should be overcome; the analysis however shows that penetrationtheir use among the Member States differs radically; calls on the Commission to analyse the main reasons behind such dramatic differences among Member States and to find an effective incentive for them to be more active this fieldin using FEI in those fields where they have proved to be successful;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 180
Paragraph 180
180. Notes that there is a visible difference between the volume of financial sources put into the FEI and the amount redistributed to final recipients; is of the opinion that this could mean that some substantial amounts were only “parked” into FEI to avoid the risk of de- commitment; calls on the Commission to contribute to eliminating this negative feature of FEI utilisazation and considers the new provision for 2014-2020 for payment to FЕI in tranches as a positive step in this direction;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 182
Paragraph 182
182. Notes that FEI could substantially contribute to efficiency, effectiveness and economy in ESIF utilisation, if they are wisely implemented, as they are naturally focused to reach a result, or to generate performance; calls on the Commission also to reflect this kind of benefit in the Union budgetary expenditure policy for that type of project, where appropriate for FEI;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 189 – point a
Paragraph 189 – point a
(a) have identified evidence on the impact of ERDF, ESF and CF interventions of the 2007 – 2013 period tofor fulfilment of the Europe 2020 Strategy indicatortargets;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 189 – point c
Paragraph 189 – point c
(c) continue in its already started simplification process, including the promotion of SCO;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 191
Paragraph 191
191. Is of the opinion that the Commission must continue to rigorously address the weaknesses of "first level checks" in Member States, onas some of the most important sources of errorerrors are generated at this level;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 195
Paragraph 195
195. Calls on DG REGIO and DG EMPL to publish, in their respective annual activity reports, their contributions to the Commission's CSR in a comprehensive and detailed waypreparation of the Commission's CSRs and on how they support Member States for implementing them, as these recommendations should demonstrate how the DGs facilitate Member States' progress towards achieving the Europe 2020 Strategy objectives;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 203
Paragraph 203
203. Recommends that the Commission managguide the Member States so as to address these problems and contribute to satisfactory decisions by them;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 223
Paragraph 223
223. Regrets in consequenceNotes that the declaration of assurance given by the Director General of DG AGRI is not based on data but on hopeful opinionncludes three reservations in respect of 2014 expenditure in shared management with the Member States and one reservation in respect of indirect management concerning in total EUR 1 446,9 million (EUR 1 451,9 million in 2013); observes that the highest amount in risk in 2014 is under ABB03 - Direct payments;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 229 a (new)
Paragraph 229 a (new)
229a. Welcomes the results achieved by the 2007-2013 Rural Development policy implementation according to preliminary data (end 2014) referring to micro enterprises (73 300) and young farmers (164 000) supported as well as to innovation support for introduction of new products or technologies in 136 000 farms;
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 289 – point b
Paragraph 289 – point b
(b) impact and risk assessments are to be understood as an integral element of this;
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 289 – point e
Paragraph 289 – point e
(e) a greater effort to support the protection of financial interests would be highly appreciatedis crucial;
Amendment 367 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 290 – point b
Paragraph 290 – point b
(b) shows that the performance test used with the Europe 2020 Strategy is a positive step in good direction, although its compatibility with the Union economic policy framework requires further development, including CSR with relevant macroeconomic indicators and regularly updated Union economic and social policy priorities;